Flu season just around the corner

Published: Tuesday, September 17, 2013 at 05:35 PM.

Those in Alamance County can receive a seasonal flu mist, trivalent or quadrivalent vaccines for $25, and the Flublok and High Dose Quadrivalent for $35 at the Alamance County Health Department.

Uninsured children younger than 19 are eligible for a free vaccine, and insured children younger than 19 years old whose insurance doesn’t cover a flu shot’s cost may also be eligible for a free vaccine. The health department can bill private insurors, Medicaid and Medicare.

Shots will be administered by appointment Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., excluding holidays, beginning Friday. The Alamance County Health Department is located at 319 North Graham-Hopedale Road.

Beginning Friday, the Alamance County Health Department is offering several vaccination options to combat the flu season, which generally begins in October and runs through May.

“That’s what we typically use as parameters of flu season,” said Julie Henry, spokesperson for the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. That’s why the public is encouraged to get their vaccinations as soon as possible, at various locations, she said.

“You can get a flu shot just about anywhere nowadays,” Henry said.

At the health department, more options than the standard trivalent flu vaccine – which covers three influenza strains – are being offered by appointment, beginning Friday.

Also available are the quadrivalent flu vaccine injection, which covers four strains of influenza, a flu mist nasal spray available for people ages two to 49, a Flublok vaccine injection for people ages 18 to 49 with egg allergies and a High Dose Trivalent, which is recommended for people over 65 years old.

According to health officials, the various vaccines include several different strains of influenza, including H1N1, so one shot should do the trick for most people.

Henry said people shouldn’t be alarmed by the name “H1N1,” because now the strain is part of standard vaccines and no longer considered a “novel virus,” as it was during the 2009-10 flu season.

“That was a new virus that was not covered by the seasonal vaccines,” said Zack Moore, public health physician with the NCDHHS.

“People had gotten their flu shot, but the mixture had been determined before the H1N1 (strain) emerged,” Henry said, adding that’s why people had to receive a second vaccination specifically for the H1N1 strain in 2009-10.

Though flu seasons normally run from October through May, Moore said, “Every flu season is different.”

He said the seasons’ peaks can come at different times, which contribute to the severity.

“Typically it peaks in February in North Carolina but last year we peaked in December,” Moore said.

“Last year was a pretty early season … and it was pretty severe,” he said. “It was a flu season that was particularly hard on the elderly.”

In North Carolina last flu season, “We had 59 deaths,” Henry said.

“The flu season before that was pretty mild,” Moore said, referring to Oct. 2011 through May 2012. “Part of that could be because people were being sure to be immunized, because we were on the heels of H1N1,” Henry said.

“We don’t really know what to expect, which is why we always encourage people to go get their vaccine,” said Moore.

He said the benefit this year is that there are so many different types of immunization options that cater to those with egg allergies or to different age groups. However, Moore said, that doesn’t mean people should hold out for the type of vaccination they think will be their best option – they should get vaccinated as soon as possible.

Moore said, “We do encourage families who have college students … to make sure they get their vaccines,” when students are at home on breaks, because campuses tend to get hit hard.

“They tend to have their flu activity start earlier,” he said.

Moore said the 18- to 34-year-old age group doesn’t do a great job of getting vaccinated; last flu season only 29 percent of North Carolinians in that age group got vaccinated, based on a statewide survey.

He said, “The elderly do a great job of getting their flu vaccines,” and 73 percent of people age 75 and older were vaccinated last year. Statewide, about 42 percent of adults in all age groups were vaccinated last year, said Moore.

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Those in Alamance County can receive a seasonal flu mist, trivalent or quadrivalent vaccines for $25, and the Flublok and High Dose Quadrivalent for $35 at the Alamance County Health Department.

Uninsured children younger than 19 are eligible for a free vaccine, and insured children younger than 19 years old whose insurance doesn’t cover a flu shot’s cost may also be eligible for a free vaccine. The health department can bill private insurors, Medicaid and Medicare.

Shots will be administered by appointment Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., excluding holidays, beginning Friday. The Alamance County Health Department is located at 319 North Graham-Hopedale Road.

To schedule an appointment or for more information, call 336-227-0101.